Safari (9/15)

Uganda Sunrise

Well Uganda, you have done it again, provided me with yet another indescribable experience.  But as always, I will try and describe it for you.  Today we went to Queen Elizabeth National Park, which is located in the Kasese district.  We were picked up at about 6:30 and headed to the park, which is about a half hour away.  The drive alone was beautiful, as we were able to see our first Ugandan sunrise.  Once we arrived at the park we picked up our safari guide, Eddie.

Water Buffalo

We first drove around the park to view the animals.  Right away we saw hundreds of kob.  We also saw hundreds of water buffalo.  As we got a little further into the park we saw elephants.  We were in awe.  They were so close to us, and it was incredible being able to see them in their natural environment.  We probably spent much more time than we needed to looking at the elephants, but we didn’t realize we would be having several more encounters with them as the day went on.  Eddie was finally able to convince us that we would see more and that we should move on.  And it was a good thing we did, because we were able to witness a python suffocating a kob.  It was in the distance and low to the ground so we don’t have pictures of this, but it was pretty neat to see.  Next we saw the lions.  There were three female lions, two male lions, and about four cubs.  The cubs mainly slept while we were watching them, the males wandered around, and the females were doing some hunting.  One of the female lions was lying in the grass, and Eddie told us she was hiding from the kob and was going to attack when one wasn’t paying attention.  We waited and waited, but never saw this happen.  It was really interesting watching the behavior of the kob in the presence of the lions.  The kob would all face in the direction of the lions, and the males would stand close so that they could warn the females when the lions began hunting.  It was quite noisy with the kob calling to each other in what was almost like a whistle.  Some other animals we saw in no particular order were one lonely hippo (and many, many more later), a monkey, a lizard, eagles, and the Crested Crane (the national bird). 

Lizard

Kob

More kob

Elephants

Male Lion

Crested Crane

Katie ad I with the hippos in the fishing community

After our safari tour in the car, Eddie showed us the salt lake that is located within the park.  He then took us to a fishing community that also was in the park.  We got there after the fishermen had already come in from the morning fishing, and were able to see them preparing the nets for the next time they go out, as well as emptying some of the fish into basins that were then being carried away by the women.  The fish that they catch and that everyone eats here are tilapia.  I couldn’t help but think how scary it must be living among the lions, elephants, buffalo, and so on! There were hippos swimming right out in front of their fishing boats.

Salt Lake

We then went on a boat cruise safari.  We heard it was something we should do, but didn’t realize how amazing it would actually be.  We were on a pontoon-type boat for two hours and we were able to get super close to a ton of animals.  It was not only cool to be able to see the animals up so close, but it was also just a completely relaxing couple of hours.  We were able to sit back, kick our feet up, and just enjoy the beautiful day, scenery, and animals.  We were on cloud nine.  We saw a lot of the same animals as we did in the car, but we were also able to see more hippos, a crocodile, and tons of birds.  There are over 612 species of birds, which is probably why there were birds in every direction that we looked!

Cute little baby!

Elephants we saw on the boat cruise

Hippo

Crocodile

So many birds!

Water buffalo

And then after the boat ride our happiness and excitement continued when we went to eat at Moya Lodge.  The lodge is situated on the top of a hill that overlooks the beautiful lakes that we had just been on for our cruise.  What’s more, we ordered a cheeseburger and pizza for lunch! This was our first encounter with American food since being here, so you can imagine how clean our plates were.  Following lunch, we spent an hour shopping in the hotel gift shop.  This was also our first time shopping, so we may have gone a little crazy, but we were just too excited to start buying gifts for our friends and family. 

Our view from Moya Lodge

It seemed as though we were leaving at the perfect time, as it started to rain pretty hard as soon as we got back in the car.  We were making the drive out of the park when we were stopped by a herd of elephants.  They were crossing the road right in front of us.  We were so excited!  But then we all became a little nervous because we overheard a man talking at lunch about elephants almost charging his car.  Our driver, Samson, waited it out while the elephants passed, and we were able to grab a few last pictures of my now favorite animal.

Elephants passing in front of us

We made one more stop on the way home and that was to a few craft shops.  They have about six of them conveniently located right outside the park.  So Katie and I did a little more shopping and we felt good knowing that our money would be going to the women in the shops who made them.

To bring us back to reality when we got home, there were a few cockroaches and a lizard all waiting for us in our room!  So naturally, Katie and I were talking to, yelling at, and maybe even barking at the lizard to try and get it out of our room.  Well we didn’t realize our window was open and Doreen, who was in the back with some of her family, heard us.  She came in to check on us and she told us she heard us and said, “I have to go check on my babies!” And sure enough she came in and said, “My daughters, what is it?!”  She is such a good mother!  

9/14

We arrived at school this morning only to be told that we would be getting yet another new driver starting tomorrow.  Apparently our old driver, Morris, was cheating them out of money.  So, onto the next.  Hopefully Samson is our third and final driver while we are here. 

Anyways, today I wanted to assess my students to see if they had learned what I was teaching them this week.  I first did my math assessment with the students.  I had the students complete an exercise that I designed in their exercise books and then when they were ready for me to check that I also asked the students some oral questions.  Almost every single student was in a good place.  I think a large part of their comprehension came towards the end of the week when I worked to make the graphing activities culturally relevant as well as more visual.  The final thing I had the students graph this week was how much maize certain students had.  Maize is basically like corn, but it looks and tastes a little different.  Anyway, I had five children go into the room at school where all the maize is kept and had them bring some maize back to the classroom and then the students could visually see what they were graphing.  This worked very well, so I will continue to try and make my lessons culturally relevant with visual components.  I think the visual component is key in teaching these English Language Learners (ELLs).  On this note, Katie and I have been talking a lot about how great this experience will be for us when we come back and teach in the States where we are likely to have ELL students.  We are learning different strategies to use and methods of teaching that best suite the needs of these students.  Katie and I were even talking about how this program would be a great way to earn an ELL/ESL certificate…what do you think Maggie?!

We got a call in the afternoon from Enoch, who wanted us to come back to town and meet with him so we could discuss arrangements for our new driver as well as for our safari tomorrow.  So we packed everything up and then went to get in our car and it was gone!  We called our old driver, Morris (who was supposed to still drive us home today), and he said “I’m coming, I’m coming!”  Well, he never came.  So an hour or so later, our new driver pulled up in the school car (the one we were supposed to be using while here but have not been because it has been broken) to take us home.  By now we are used to frequent changes and are learning to become more and more flexible and understanding.     

9/13

After waking up with a cockroach in my bed last night, I was up all night with images of a cockroach crawling all over in my bed, so needless to say I did not get much sleep at all last night.  But the students were able to wake me up and brighten my day as soon as I got to school.  As I walked in I heard some of the students singing the days of the week song I had been teaching them, and then as I started pulling some of my teaching stuff out of my backpack the kids were picking them up and reading the vocabulary words I had been teaching them.  It showed that my students were not only interested in what I was teaching them, but that they were actually learning it too!  And then to lighten up my mood a bit, one of the girls told me I had a bad singing voice, oh kids! 

The school day ended up being a bit mixed up, as Katie’s teacher was not at school due to her baby being sick.  This meant that my classroom teacher was teaching in both classrooms when Katie and I weren’t teaching our lessons.  At the beginning of one of the periods where I was not teaching and when my teacher was in the other classroom setting up their lesson, one of my students asked me, “Teacher, can we learn?”  It melted my heart.  It just goes to show how much these students value and appreciate their education.  And it is that value and appreciation that pushes me to keep challenging myself in my teaching so that I can provide them with the best learning opportunities. 

During break and lunch today I worked on putting up a Word Wall in my classroom.  The way a Word Wall works, is that you put the letters of the alphabet on the wall and then under each letter you put vocabulary words that the students are learning.  This is perfect to use here, as the kids are learning a new set of vocabulary words each week in their English lessons.  The idea is then that the students can use the Word Wall so that they can keep practicing the words in their reading, writing, and speaking. 

And because it is Thursday, we had Chapel again today.  It is one of my favorite parts of the week, seeing all the kids together singing, dancing, and drumming.  Not to mention I usually get to hang out with a baby or two during it.

And one more thing to keep us on our toes today was a rat in the classroom.  Katie was just about to start teaching again when a rat scurried past her feet.  But not to worry, within a matter of seconds the boys in her classroom had the rat by its tail and were taking it back into the field.  They ran right past me with it, and I sure am glad they weren’t my toes that it ran over! 

"Don't let the curriculum bring you down" (9/12)

This morning was pretty horrific for me.  I had just woken up (so I was still laying in my bed) and was skyping with Nick when all of a sudden a cockroach ran over my computer screen.  So naturally, I screamed bloody murder and ran out of the bed to grab the Doom (cockroach spray).  I killed the cockroach and then tried to recuperate from my tragic experience (I am still trying to get over it two weeks later).  Before I left my neighbors encouraged me to think of my mosquito net over my bed as the set-up for a princess bed, which I did up until now, because I’m sure princesses do not share their beds with cockroaches. Sigh. 

After being on edge from the cockroach in my bed, I started teaching only to notice a lizard above my head in the classroom.  Oh boy, today was going to be a long one.  Anyways, the math lesson I taught today went well, and I was able to see the students starting to warm up to me.  Later in the day I taught English and was observed by Enoch.  The lesson itself went very well up until it came time for the students to work in their exercise books.  I have made the decision that when I check the students’ work in their exercise books, that I will meet with them one-on-one to do so.  This allows me to check-in with each student and see how they’re doing, as well as it allows me the opportunity to build relationships with every student in the class.  Well as I was going around checking my students’ work, student after student seemed to be totally lost.  I had asked the students to be rather creative, and come up with their own sentences telling me what they do during the different parts of the day.  The problem was that the students at Rwentutu are never given the opportunity to think on their own or to be creative, but rather they always follow a set-in-stone sentence structure or pattern given to them by the teacher. So the task that I gave them to complete was too difficult.  I was feeling quite defeated after seeing my students struggle through the activity. 

I expressed these concerns with Enoch as well as some others I had at this point.  He not only made me feel better about these things, but he also thought my lesson went really well.  He gave me several compliments, but the most important one to me was that he said he could tell I care about my students.  He said this was evident as I knew all of the students’ names already and because I spent time working with each child.  As is how teaching works, I will take the things that Enoch told me and my own personal reflections from my lesson to help me plan my lessons for tomorrow.   

The problem I experienced today, with the students unable to write simple sentences was my first encounter with what Dr. Gillian warned us about, letting the curriculum bring you down.  The reason that students aren’t provided with opportunities to be creative in their writing or in anything they do, is because creativity is not something that is tested on the national exams.  This was one of the concerns I expressed to Enoch.  I wanted to know if I should be going back and teaching the basics such simple sentence structure, letter sounds, number recognition, and so on, or if I am just supposed to stick to the curriculum and ignore the fundamentals to reading, writing and math.  Enoch encouraged me to do what I thought the kids needed; however, he still stressed that the curriculum needs to be taught.  So I am going to try my best to incorporate the basics and fundamentals into the curriculum that I am required to teach.

First day of teaching!

Today was my first actual day of teaching, as we spent the first week observing and deciding on which classrooms we wanted to work in.  I will be teaching Math, English, and Reading in my P1 class.  But today I just taught English and reading.  After spending hours preparing last night, I felt confident going into my lessons today.  I knew my lessons well and knew what my goals were for the students and myself. 

I first taught English.  I started by having the kids loosen up a bit by playing a game of Simon Says.  It got the kids out of their seats and gave them a little break so they would be ready to learn.  The curriculum for the day instructed me to teach the words morning, afternoon, evening, and night.  And in English they must be able to read the word, spell the word, define the word, draw a picture of the word and use it in a sentence.  And all of this for some rather abstract words.  I had the kids do an activity where they moved around to try and put some pictures representing the words into chronological order.  This went fine.  The most difficult teaching point for me was teaching the spelling of the words.  What Katie and I have realized is that the kids have never learned the sounds that letters or strings of letters make.  This means that students are not able to sound out a word when they are trying to spell it, or when they are trying to read it.  This presents me with a challenge, how do you spell without knowing what sounds each letter makes?  Their answer to this is repetition and memorization.  Unfortunately, repetition and memorization do not always equal learning.  Hmmmm….Right now I am still trying to figure out how I am going to teach English in a way that allows the students to actually learn and comprehend the vocabulary. 

For reading today I started by introducing fluency to the students.  I want the students to learn to read fluently so they can gain confidence as readers as well as to aid in comprehension.  I made an anchor chart for the students that listed the three main components of fluency that I want them to focus on including reading accurately, loudly, and with personality.  After going over this with them, I sang a song about the days of the week that we would be using as our fluency piece this week (since the students would be learning the days of the week for vocabulary later in the week).  I then had the students sing with me.  We will continue to sing the song each day, and by the end of the week if students feel ready, they will have an opportunity to sing by themselves and demonstrate their fluency.

I then did a read aloud with the class.  I had the students come and sit on the floor with me, which they were very excited about, as this was clearly something they had never done before.  The students seem to really enjoy read-alouds, and it provides another opportunity for me to gauge reading comprehension from my students.  I hope to do daily read-alouds. 

Next the students read by themselves.  I sat one-on-one and read with one student.  She was really struggling throughout the book.  This told me first that the book she was reading was too difficult for her and that I need to go to the school library and pick out some more appropriate books for my students.  But she also demonstrated to me how hard it is for the students to read without learning letter sounds.  She wasn’t able to sound out any words at all.  The only words she knew were those that she had memorized.  But this meant that even small words such as an or in were often times mixed up, because her reading of these words was based solely on memorization. 

So looking at the strengths and weaknesses of my lessons from today, I spent the night planning new lessons for tomorrow.  I tried to incorporate more of my own teaching style, while still using the schools’ somewhat limiting curriculum.  

9/10

Today is our final day observing in the classrooms that we chose and then tomorrow we will start teaching.  As I mentioned, I will be teaching in a P1 classroom.  While at school today I received the books that I will teach from.  I have 8 English units to teach and 10 math units to teach while I am here.  The first English unit I will teach will be Times of the Day, so students will be learning the vocabulary morning, evening, afternoon, and night, as well as the days of the week.  In math, I will start by teaching about bar graphs.  So while observing today I was brainstorming some lesson plan ideas. 

After school we went to the Market to get some food for the week and then we picked up the skirts that we had made out of the beautiful fabric we bought.  The skirts turned out perfectly and so did the headbands.  I don’t have a picture of me in my skirt yet, but I will take one and post it at some point.  Then as soon as we got home we spent the remainder of the night planning for our lessons.  Enoch has asked us to write out full lesson plans for each lesson we teach.  This turns out being a lot of work, but as I have found out it is also very helpful once it comes time to teach the lessons.  We also have to make anything we want to use in a lesson.  So I was busy making posters and anchor charts for my lessons.  I also made name-tags for my students so I can start calling my students by name right away.  

Kilembe Copper Mines (9/9)

This morning we woke up very early to go to the Catholic Church in town.  It was a good half hour walk, but it was nice walking through town so early as it was much calmer and peaceful at this time.  The Mass was a little difficult to follow as it switched back and forth between Lukunzo and English (even though it was an English service), but it was still nice to be in a somewhat familiar place.  And I once again was able to feel comfort and a connection to home when the priest said “God is good all the time” and “All the time God is good.” 

Katie, Doreen, and I on top of the hill overlooking Kasese

After the service Doreen found some of the neighbor boys and asked them to take us on a shortcut home.  And sure enough, we were home in half the time!  One of the boys that walked us was Mark.  Mark is a 13-year-old boy in P7 at the school right up the road from our house.  He has befriended the past three Wisconsin groups that have been here and has taken them to the mines in Kilembe, so he extended the same offer to us for the next Sunday.  We jumped at the opportunity.

Enoch then came over after church to meet with us, as he is our supervisor for teaching.  A better way to describe him though would be as a Grandfather, because that is how he treats us, as his own daughters.  Whenever we talk with Enoch he not only listens to our concerns, but he really hears them.  And even though missing the safari yesterday had nothing to do with Enoch, he felt terrible and wanted to make it up to us.  So he asked us if we could find Mark and go to the mines today. 

So we loaded up the car, Morris, Enoch, Doreen, Mark, Katie, and I, and headed to Kilembe, the town where the copper mines are located.  It was only about a 20-minute drive as it is still in the Kasese district.  But of course, before we actually arrived in Kilembe, Enoch stopped along the way at the top of a hill that overlooked all of Kasese.  It was an incredible view, and probably one of my favorite stops atop a hill so far, as we were looking down at the place where we live.  It was really breathtaking as the town was to our left and then the beautiful mountains were to our right.  In fact, the hilltop that we were standing on is where the King’s home will be built in some years to come, as it is the best view in Kasese. 

Kasese

Rwenzori Mountains

The plaque declaring this as land for the King's palace to be built on, and our tour guides Enoch and Mark

Our next unexpected stop was to some hot springs.  I had been to some hot springs this summer in Colorado and really enjoyed them, so when the men (completely submerged in the water) invited us in, I took off my shoes and rolled up my pants ready to get in.  The water was piping hot. There was actually a spot in the hot spring where the water was boiling.  Katie and I stood in for just enough time to snap a picture and get out.  Our feet were burning, while the men were just relaxing and laughing at us.  They explained to us that the hot springs are actually used medicinally as the locals believe they have healing powers.

Katie and I dipping our feet in the hot springs

Locals

When we arrived in Kilembe, we first just drove around the town.  The town is much different now than it used to be, because mining no longer takes place in the town.  Mining stopped around 1970.  But we were still able to see the homes that the miners lived in, which people still live in today.  Enoch explained that the town was booming while the mining was still taking place, but now everything is much more run down and so many places have closed.  You could almost picture the mining town the way Enoch described it, even as we drove through the now ghost-town.

Old houses that the miners lived in

As we started heading towards the mines we found a man in a blue jumpsuit heading back from the mines, so of course Enoch struck up a conversation with him and in a matter of minutes we had our own personal tour guide.  The man was very informational, as were Enoch, and Mark.  They walked us through the step-by-step process of the mining for copper that took place within the mines and we were able to see the old equipment.  We even were able to enter the caves as we came prepared with our headlamps and saw some of the copper.  We only walked in about .5 km, but the mine goes back about 5.5 km. 

Kilembe Copper Mines

Where some of the mining was done

Farming is how the people of the town make a living today

On our walk to the mines a hug herd of cows were walking by

The mine we went in

Katie, our tour guide Mark, and I inside the mine

Copper in the mine

Old equipment

Secondary School

We then visited a secondary school in Kilembe.  Enoch is on the board at this school, and it is also the school that Doreen attended.  After our brief visit to the school, as we were heading back to our car, I spotted a man wearing a Wharton shirt (this is the business school at Upenn where Nick went to school).  I was so excited, but the man was sitting down and I was unable to get a picture of the shirt, so I went to ask him if I could take his picture.  Well when I asked him he didn’t even look up at me, and Enoch explained that the man was on drugs (as he was eating them out of a little plastic bag), and that he wasn’t thinking right.  So unfortunately I was unable to get a picture! 

Guy in a Wharton shirt!

Stream running through Kilembe

Our next stop was to the Margherita Hotel.  It is a beautiful hotel in Kasese that has a nice garden area that you can sit in and enjoy a drink.  So that is just what we did.  We wanted to thank all of our tour guides, so we bought everyone a soda, which was much needed after yet another jam-packed day. 

Of course we still had one more stop in us, and that was to see the District of Kasese’s Prime Minister, Loyce Bwambale.  She has not only served as the Prime Minister, but she as also held several other important government roles within the country and even the continent.  It was nice to sit and talk with her as she gave us some insight into the Ugandan culture, which she seemed to be quite the expert on.  And before departing, we made arrangements through her to meet with the King of Kasese.  Enoch sure has his connections.  

9/8

Despite all of our planning, our car broke down on the way to pick us up for the safari, so we didn’t end up going today.  I guess it was a good thing that it broke down before we were among lions though.  It was definitely a let down as it was something we were looking forward to, but we rescheduled for next Saturday. 

Katie and I all ready for our safari :(

We spent most of the day just relaxing and reading all day.  We had a visit from the neighbor boys, which can always brighten up our day.  And then Katie and I walked to town for the first time by ourselves to just explore a bit.  Most days we go to town and just stop at the same places, the market, the supermarket, the flour shop, and so on.  We ended up buying some chart paper that we will use to make posters for our classroom.  And Katie even haggled a bit and got the price down 2,000 extra UGS. 

And just to test us a little more after our safari let down, we had 3 HUGE cockroaches visit us.  And then we lost power. And then I received bad news from home.  All of that mixed together was the perfect recipe for homesickness.  But the day provided us with the perfect opportunity for a cure, lots of skype time with family.   

"God is good, All the time" (9/6)

Baby Alian, sooo cute!

We woke up this morning with no power.  That meant getting ready for school in the dark.  It wasn’t too bad as the sun was almost up after we were done skyping and it was time to start getting ready.  It just adds a little excitement to your morning.  Something I have learned by now is that every day there HAS to be some form of “excitement.”  Be it a cockroach, no power, rats, fires, or lizards among so many other things (I will talk about the last three things in later posts), a day does not go by without something happening.

At school I observed in the P4 classroom.  There were 29 students present.  One thing that I appreciated was when the teacher had the students get out of their desks and go outside to draw circles in the dirt with their feet.  Not only was it great to see the children out of their seats and using what resources they have (nature) to learn, but I also learned how to make a perfect circle using only my feet!  Another thing that worked well in the class was when the teacher had the students work in small groups of about three.  It was good to see some small group work, as everything else I have seen has either been individual or large group. 

Me with baby Evan at Chapel

Starting to gather for Chapel

After the morning break, it was chapel time at school.  Chapel began with all the kids huddling under a big tree with benches, chairs, stools, rugs, or just the grass to sit on.  The first half hour was simply singing, dancing, and drumming.  All the students were standing up, clapping, dancing, and singing different hymns.  The students sing loud and proud.  It is really cool seeing all of the kids come together, from the baby class up to P7, all uniting and singing passionately.  One of the schoolteachers gave the service and he switched back and forth from Lukunzo to English throughout.  But one thing that I picked up on right away was when he said, “God is good,” and the students responded “All the time.”  And then he said “All the time,” and the students responded, “God is good.”  This is something that Father Manahan, a priest from Marquette that Nick is very close with, does.  I know this because Nick and I attended one of his services that he had in Oconomowoc just a few weeks before I left for Uganda.  I should also note that Father Manahan spent 2 (or was it three?) years in Uganda teaching, so Nick and I met with him before I left and he gave me a lot of advice.  Anyways, it was neat hearing the same thing all the way in Uganda, and it gave me that connection to home that I don’t always have here. 

Here is a video from the beginning of Chapel. I will try and get a better one someday, because as the weeks go on it seems the students get more and more into it. 

The kids chasing the soccer ball

The last thing we did today was pump up one of the soccer balls we brought with us and give it to the kids.  After giving the balls to the school, they just sat deflated in a cabinet, so Katie and I took it upon ourselves to fill one up.  The kids were so excited.  We threw the ball out to them and they just chased it around the school for an hour, without stopping, about fifty of them.  And even though there is a field at the school, the kids were just too excited to make the walk to it!

After school we went for a run with the neighborhood boys, and boy can they run fast!  We started running with three neighborhood boys, but as we ran through the neighborhood, we kept gaining kids here and there.  By the end, we had a pack of about 15 kids running with us.  While on our run we also stopped at the boys' house, because they wanted us to meet their mother.  Their mother actually found two of the boys and took them in as her own.  The boys are so nice and I am so happy they have found such a wonderful woman to look after them.

Later, Katie, Doreen, and I made dinner.  We had been giving Doreen a hard time because she has a shirt that says Jennifer Lopez on the front, so we have been calling her J-Lo.  Anyway, we brought our computers out to play some of J-Lo's music while we cooked.  Well this turned into an all out dance party! We had a blast and could not stop laughing.  Here is a video of Doreen shakin it!

Bridging the gap 9/5

Just eating some lunch. 

Today I observed in a P1 classroom.  Only seven of the twenty students were in class today.  Something I observed today was the emphasis put on drawing in the classroom.  Students are expected to know how to draw everything they learn, especially in English.  They must know how to draw it well, and the exact way they are originally shown.  While I’m not sure how I feel about this as it hampers on their creativity, what I have come to realize is that a lot of the students are excellent artists!  One thing that the classroom teacher did today that I did not expect to see was an energizer.  She noticed the students beginning to lose focus, so she stopped the lesson and had the kids do a Simon Says type game.  She even let a couple students come up and lead.  It was nice to see this practice.  Another positive thing I saw was the teacher’s relationship with the students.  She seemed to have a decent relationship built with her students as she was laughing with them and having some fun.  This was also unexpected, as when we met with Gillian she said this was something missing in their schools.  Another good thing I saw, was while doing a spelling exercise, the students were each given individual “slates” to practice writing the words.  This was nice since it made all the students accountable.  Finally, during math, the teacher let the students get out of their seats and lay on the floor to do their work.  I really value letting students make themselves comfortable as long as they can still be productive, so this is definitely something I will continue when I teach here.

Hanging out during morning break

After a very positive morning, Katie and I were both a little thrown off when none of the teachers returned to their classrooms after lunch.  Unsure of what was going on, I started to play a couple name games and get to know your students-type games.  After observing some really great things this morning in the classroom, I was leaning towards teaching in this class and figured it would be a good opportunity to start learning some names and the students as individuals.  I started by teaching the kids a clapping and singing name game, which they loved, and then we did some math games, and other little circle games.  I ended up really enjoying the time (it ended up being a full hour), but was a little confused what all the other classrooms were doing that didn’t have teachers in them at all.  Katie and I came to the conclusion later that the teachers were in a meeting….

Hopscotch!

Down by the banks game

In the afternoon, we were just kind of sitting around during games time with a group of girls around us, and I picked up a stone and started drawing hopscotch in the dirt.  Then I demonstrated how to do it, all without words, and right away the girls tried it out.  They laughed and had a blast with it.  So Katie and I kept adding boxes on and making it bigger and bigger.  It was good to see the kids having some fun and starting to warm up to us.  After about a half hour of hopscotch, we taught a small group of girls the circle-singing-game Down by the Banks.  The kids LOVED it and by the end of the games period we had a group of about 30 students playing the game.  These games were such a small and simple way to start bridging the gap between the students at Rwentutu and us.